Discussion Guides

Discussion questions like "If you had to pick
just one, which word would you choose to describe our health
care system?" or "What experiences with the health care system
have you had, or have friends or colleagues had, that influence
your views?"

Questions such as: What makes you anxious about
the future? What is different now from your expectations
growing up? Have you ever experienced a time when a new story
helped defuse a conflict? What was it about the story that
reduced conflict?

Questions such as: As you look back on the last
10 years and forward to the next, what do you fear? What do you
hope for? What has the last decade meant in your life? What do
you expect from the next decade?

Explore questions: Has religion lost its edge?
Are churches now centers at best of apathy, at worst of
right-wing reaction? Is organized religion now so sectarian
that work across denominations is impossible? and
more.

Questions like: • What would you need to do
to enter elderhood? What could your community do to support you
in making that transition? • Do you have an older person you
admire and would like to be like? What makes this person a
model for you?

What are your favorite places in your area?
Where do you spend the greatest amount of your leisure time
outside your home? Where do you most enjoy spending time? Which
of the five qualities do these places have? More questions like
these for discussion . . .

November 2 dashed the hopes of millions. After
an election that stirred such passions, how do we move forward
as a nation? In this issue, we look at the fractures underlying
our present social landscape, the new fears and old scars, and
how we can heal them. How can we resist these destructive
spirals? How can we overturn ancient patterns of harm? What
sources of healing are within and around us?

But what really makes for a satisfying life?
When you look at your own life, what has brought you genuine
joy? What has brought you deep and lasting contentment? In this
issue, we explore the question philosophers have wrestled with
at least since Socrates asked, “How should one
live?”

Think about relatives, colleagues, or neighbors who have a very different perspective on issues you care about. What is the foundation for their deeply held views? Are there values you hold in common? Do these suggest issues on which you might find common ground? What language might help find that common ground?

When has awareness of an injustice spurred you into action? What was it that made you want to act? What kind of information or images have made you feel unwilling or unable to act? More questions like these . . .

Is nonviolence a universal requirement or merely a sometimes-useful strategy? Nelson Mandela, for example, during the struggle against apartheid, rejected demands that the African National Congress renounce violence as a strategy. Is nonviolence always required or are there times when violence is necessary? Have you seen nonviolent action work? What made it succeed? Have you seen it fail? In what way and why? Faced with an invasion and oppression of your community, what would you do to resist it?

Like oil, water scarcity lies at the heart of many of the world’s worst conflicts, and, as they once looked at oil, the world’s corporations see water as the next great commodity for their profit. But is there a different path, a way to share water, fostering abundance rather than exploiting scarcity?